On 10 and 11 June 2008, just two years after the previous general election, the Italians were
called again to the ballot boxes to elect a new Parliament. In contrast with the previous
election, the results were clear and the Centre-Right coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi won a
solid majority of seats in both Houses of Parliament. This result confirmed the ‘hand-over rule’
established since the 1994 election: no government has ever been confirmed in office. The new
Parliament was characterised by the presence of only six groups (including the mixed group) and by the absence, for the first time since 1948, of the communists, the socialists and the neofascists.
Silvio Berlusconi and the new twenty-one ministers sworn in at the Quirinale on the
8th of May. [Taken from introduction]